In the center of the cursed city, a tall hill rose above the ruins. At its base, a white marble arch stood amidst the devastation. It was unscathed and unblemished, as if some sublime force protected it from the entropic touch of the all-consuming darkness. Beyond the arch, a wide path paved with white stones ascended the hill.
When they passed through the arch, Effie spoke in a melancholic tone:
"There are areas in the ruins that many Nightmare Creatures tend to avoid for some reason. The castle is one of those places. I was told that when the original group of Sleepers came here hoping to carve out a place in the city, there was only one Spire Messenger nesting in the throne room, with no other monsters around. Those crazy guys managed to kill it."
Before Nephis could ask, it was Sasha who did.
"Spire Messengers?"
The huntress chuckled.
"Big ugly bastards with black feathers and pale bodies, you must have seen them hunting in the Labyrinth. They come from Spire."
Sasha's group had never encountered Spire Messengers, so she remained silent, and now it was Nephis's turn to speak.
She hesitated for a moment and then asked:
"What are their rank and class?"
Effie shivered for a moment before answering:
"Fallen Beasts. That's why I said those guys were a bit crazy. But they were a powerful group."
She fell silent and then added in a low voice:
"In the end, it must have cost a lot to kill them."
Brought to a solemn mood by that last statement, they continued moving forward in silence.
The stone path wound around the hill, slowly climbing its steep slopes. Here and there, it was interrupted by long stretches of stairs and formidable yet strangely graceful fortifications. But no one stood guard. The entire path was empty.
Jonathan looked at Effie and asked:
"Why aren't there guards around here?"
Effie shrugged.
"Gunlaug barely has enough people to guard the castle walls. However, they will notice anything approaching the hill. From up there, you can clearly see the entire city, and different protective measures have been implemented. They've already spotted us."
Jonathan could sense slight disgust in the souls of Sunny and Isaac.
After walking on the stone path for a long time, they finally reached its end and saw the splendid castle.
Built with the same pristine marble as the arch at the base of the hill, it rose towards the sky like a white mountain crafted by human hands. The foremost tower was wide and imposing, with a tall decorated gate and a grand staircase descending from it to a vast stone platform where the path ended.
On either side of the front tower, slightly ahead, stood two other bastions, connected to it by arched aerial bridges and accompanied by their own smaller towers. Behind them, the main tower rose even higher, as if trying to challenge the menacing Crimson Spire that loomed over the world in the distance.
The castle looked like something out of a fairy tale, except for the skulls hanging at the gate, which ruined that beautiful image.
Then they looked down and noticed all the huts made of collapsed stone, rotten wood, and animal skins.
After a moment of contemplating the marvelous view, Isaac, Sunny, and Sasha grimaced slightly at the smell that reached them all.
'Just like home,' the three thought, with irony at the twist of fate bringing them almost to the same place where they had started.
Among the huts, emaciated people with empty eyes were barely surviving their miserable existences. They were dressed in a strange mix of dirty rags and shining Memories, and those wearing armor stood out among the rest like rare oddities. Most of them were extremely young, barely older than their own group.
They had all been admiring the view for quite some time before the huntress snapped them out of their reverie.
"Hey, fools, your jaws are hanging."
Jonathan looked at the others, and they seemed somewhat embarrassed by their reaction.
Nephis turned to Effie and asked,
"What do we do now?"
The huntress looked around and shrugged.
"It will soon be dark, so I advise you to find shelter first. Look for an empty hut. With the number of people who die each season, there are always many. Otherwise, you can hunt and then pay the tribute."
"It will soon be dark, so I advise you to find shelter first. Look for an empty hut. With the number of people who die each season, there are always many. Otherwise, two of you can pay the tribute and enter the castle. But the third one will have to stay."
Changing Star hesitated and then said,
"What about you?"
Effie smiled.
"What about me? That luxurious one-bedroom hut over there is mine. It was built with the best kind of junk you can find here... though it's still crap. Anyway, I'm going home to cook myself a good dinner and then go to sleep. I'm very tired from these past few days. Sorry, I don't take guests."
Nephis looked at her intently, obviously wanting to say more, but then simply nodded.
"I see. Thank you for everything you've done for us. I won't forget it."
Effie smiled, patted her on the shoulder, and turned to the rest.
"Goodbye, kids. See you later, Jony, Ludwin, Sasha, and doll."
With that, she started whistling a cheerful tune and walked away.
Now, all of them found themselves in the middle of the outer settlement, unsure of what to do next.
The inhabitants of the outer settlement paid them little attention, only occasionally casting indifferent glances at the three strange youths. Only Cassie's beauty attracted a couple of intense and darkly fascinated looks.
Jonathan didn't like at all how those idiots were looking at his friends.
The rest of his cohort looked confused at the sparks generated in their friend's head, creating a beautiful and somber crown.
Suddenly, the entire outer settlement seemed crushed by immense pressure, and everyone who had been looking at the group, and even those who weren't but were unfortunately reflected by one of the crown's gems, fell to their knees.
Jonathan made sure his friends weren't affected by the crushing pressure with a mental command to the Memory.
Nephis looked at Jonathan, somewhat surprised before asking:
"What are you doing?" Her indifferent self.
"I don't like how these idiots are looking at you, Cassie, and Sasha," Jony replied, his voice serious as he continued to stare at all the kneeling people.
"Alright, that's enough, Jony. It shouldn't matter to you. It doesn't really bother me, just ignore them, or it could cause problems," Sasha said, placing her hand on Jonathan's shoulder.
Releasing the pressure but not the crown on his head, Jonathan complied and freed everyone else, who then ran off, leaving them alone in the middle of the street.
"That crown is impressive, I envy you," Sunny said, gazing in awe at the black crown on Jonathan's head.
"Well, thanks, I guess."
Nephis interrupted the three as she took out the two soul fragments they had saved, and everyone turned to look at her.
"I think we should decide who will go inside with Jonathan," Nephis said, looking at everyone except Jony.
"Why don't you send me with Sunny? We're good at gathering information. He can blend in with his shadow, and I can uncover anything hidden with my senses."
He suggested it not just for that reason; he wanted to obtain a strong puppet as soon as possible. And who better than those directly under Gunlaug's command?
"That's what I was thinking. I wanted you and Sunny to go in. And I wanted to ask the rest to let Cassie go with them."
"Fine by me, I don't really care anyway," Ludwin said, as he eyed all the potential houses to make his own.
"No problem," Isaac said simply. He was a man of few words, so no one said more.
"Neither do I. I'm glad you want to send Cassie. She's the one who would have the most trouble out here."
"It's decided then. Grab these two and enter the castle," Nephis extended her hands to give the fragments to Sunny and Cassie.
They took them and then said their goodbyes.
The three headed to the gates, where two guards looked at them with undisguised disdain.
"Look what we have here, two rats and a doll. What did you bring us?" said the guard to the right of the gate, to which the three extended their hands, showing the glowing orbs.
The guard on the left spoke:
"Enter, someone will receive you inside."
Avoiding casting murderous glances at them from Sunny, the three entered the magnificent castle.